Crossing a line
by Remembering childhood
Summary: Videl takes a dangerous path as she accepts an undercover misson. Rated M for gore and mature situations in later chapters. RE-EDITED and updated !
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes : I don't own anything ! I'm back; I've edited and completed a few more chapters, more should follow within the next few weeks ! Read and Review !**

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The young woman slowly lifted her eyelids. For a moment, her surroundings appeared blurred by the new day's white light. She was a bit sore, she stretched, still in the covers, her hand touched something warm and soft. She froze; she was wide awake now. The smell of sex assaulted her nostrils. She turned and saw him, panic ran through her as the memories of the last weeks swallowed her whole.

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Winds were blowing fast, drying the tears of panic in the poor woman's eyes. The two shapes were standing close to the edge of the roof as a firm voice boomed in the emptiness of the skies:

"Let her go!"

The man turned roughly, keeping the woman prisoner of the grasp of his arm, his free hand holding the machine gun shaking uncontrollably. His face was contorted with pain, distress and confusion, his eyes screaming the loss of everything that made sense to him. The young crime fighter tried to reason him:

"You wouldn't hurt her, right? You love her, don't you? That's why you're doing all of this… you are trying to prove how much you love her. You will slowly release her and we will all talk about this in front of a hot …"

She didn't have to time to finish her sentence. The man had raised his weapon and was aiming at her. Soft cries emanated from the man's clenched jaw as there was a moment of complete immobility on the roof top and… the man opened fire: bullets came flying at an incredible speed towards the dark haired fighter, she dodged many, trying to close the distance between her and the shooter, but her manoeuvres were taking her, step by step, closer to the side of the roof. In a green blur, she disappeared and landed on a nearby roof. The only thing she saw was HIS stupid grin. In a mater of seconds, he had reappeared near the shooter, had snatched the gun from his hands, destroyed it, knocked the man out cold and done his atrocious victory pose. Videl landed on the roof:

"What gives you the right to interfere with …" her last words fell, her eyes scanning the area. "Gohan, where is she?" Both of the fighters looked around themselves. A scream was heard below. Bystanders had already begun to circle the crushed frame of the man's love. Videl turned towards Gohan and her eyes were filled with silent reproach.

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For the next few days, only glances were exchanged by the two Orange High students. Gohan knew that Videl felt guilty for the woman's tragic death, he knew the feeling too well for he still felt that pressure on his chest, this burning knowledge that he had caused his father's death. He loved Videl and decided he would let her have her time in peace. But there was more to the raven haired beauty's silence than guilt. Something he, in his good nature, could not guess.

She had eaten in a record time and she was deep in her thoughts, under a tree in the park near Orange High. She played in her mind again and again the scene that had led to the first death she couldn't prevent; the bullets coming at her, her jumps to escape their deadly trajectory, the edge of the roof coming closer. At that point in time, she had taken a decision; she would have jumped off the roof, levitated around the building and knocked the man in the back, thus saving his hostage. But instead, someone had _kindly_ decided to save her life… and it had cost _hers_. That lady would remain a random name on a police report, a simple casualty, a mention in the necrology section of some newspaper… not a person. Videl dwelt on these thoughts as Gohan watched her from afar.

" I've had enough of this!" the scream echoed through the school's hallways, stunning Gohan in his tracks.

"We've had this conversation before; you will cease following me…" her tone was one of suppressed anger.

The frail looking beauty inhaled forcefully as she slowly closed on him and extended a hand towards his face. Her fingers touched smoothly the skin of his cheek, her azure eyes seeming to bore into his.

"I'll be just fine, return to class." Her voice wasn't more then a whisper, but held the power of great commands. She turned on her heels and sprinted down the corridor, leaving his worried boyfriend behind. Sighing, he opened the classroom's door and stepped back in.

Videl had to make her way into the civilian crowd packed on the sidelines of the action. She finally walked passed the security lines. The young crime fighter quickly made the following observations: Police cars were parked across the street, delimitating a perimeter around the main bank of West Capital, every policeman had their gun in hand and an eye on the bank's front door, snipers were taking position on the roof of several nearby buildings and paramedics were making preparations for a real hecatomb; this was clearly not looking good. Her mind strangely shifted towards the obnoxious young saiyan she had been dating since the Buu ordeal, wondering if he would show up despite her forbidding. Her thoughts were interrupted when the chief of police himself practically yelled "Thank god you're here!" Sweat was apparent on the fat man's forehead, his respiration was fast, his eyes red.

"They have massed the hostages near the windows on the second floor, I doubt our snipers will ever get a clear shot… They are at least a dozen, heavily armed and they will open fire if we get close to the front door." He passed his hand through his grey hair and stated in a sigh :

"There is no solution to this."

No logical course of action could be taken safely, but then, the logical course of action had never been Videl's motto.

"Close combat would nullify their weaponry's advantage, I suggest direct action." This scenario seemed to throw the veteran policeman into panic; he franticly waved his hands as he said

"NO! You wouldn't make it to the door under such sustained fire and, besides, even if you succeed, by the time you get to the second floor, every one will be dead!"

At this point in his tirade, the chief took a deep breath and stepped closer to the young women and pleaded: "Listen, I like you kid, but you'll get killed if you try to go through the front door."

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she stated "I totally agree."

The short fighter walked towards a special team police member, literally snatched from his belt two smoke grenades and started to levitate off the ground, to the complete astonishment of the crowd, until she was high in the air. Gohan didn't like to train her, but she still had managed to make him do it, using various tactics, during the last several weeks and her strength as well as her ki control had increased significantly and she knew it… maybe too well.

Videl focused her energy in her forearms, shielding herself, and flew in a straight line, a grenade in each hand, through one of the second floor's windows. She landed inside and threw the bombs at either ends of the large room.

"Everyone down!" She yelled.

Before smoke filled the room, she noticed the hostages obeying her command, a stairway leading downstairs a few meters from her and several cowled men carrying assault riffles moving towards her. Gun fire crackling blindly in the smoke, sounds of thuds, screams of pain, bones cracking… one by one, the robbers fell to the dark haired fury's hits. The police forces were combining forces by attacking the first floor and, as the smoke began to clear, the exhausted fighter saw a SWAT member coming up the stairs, quickly he pulled out his weapon and pointed it in Videl's direction. She heard two shots simultaneously echoing in her ears as a sharp pain pierced her back. Suddenly, everything seemed to move so slowly as she turned, witnessing the blood oozing freely from the robber's chest, the last one still standing. Then, everything went black.

Gohan had felt his girlfriend's ki rise and he didn't like it. What she was doing was dangerous and she was completely oblivious of it, so proud of her strength she more than often teased death by putting herself in the most impossible situations. She could very well have been the one to die a few days ago and he didn't like that idea. She was strong, indeed, one of the strongest humans, but sill… The half-sayan shook himself, he wasn't going to miss the whole class by thinking about how imprudent she was. He was slowly getting absorbed by the topic when a feeling in the back of his head bothered him. In fact, it was more the lack of a certain familiar feeling; he couldn't feel Videl's ki. The young fighter's mouth became suddenly very dry, his movements uneasy, his face livid as he weakly asked to leave the class. His mind was nothing else than a pure scream of fear and agony as he flew to the spot he had last felt her.

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Beep…beep…beep… The sound of a cardiogram monitoring her heart rate piercing her ears, the disinfected cleanness of the air's scent, the hard fibres of the bed sheets attacking her skin, the medical wristband tied too tightly, the artificial light passing aggressively through her closed eyelids: she hated hospitals. The feisty young women felt weak, every inch of her body hurt and she had that foul taste in her mouth meaning she had undergone surgery under anaesthesia. She heard voices in the corridor and a familiar presence near her.

"Videl" worry, sadness and anger were melted in that murmur. "Damn it, Videl!" his voice was firmer.

"Why won't you listen to me? I've seen things you can't even begin to comprehend, fought monsters since kindergarten, why can't you trust me when I say that there is danger in what you do ?" his voice became less vehement

"Those around me always end up dead because of me… I made a mistake, somewhere… this isn't the way life should be…I should have been there instead of you, you shouldn't…I should…" The last bits of Gohan's monologue were lost in long repressed sobs.

"What should I do, let you get killed?" the wounded fighter didn't move, her breathing was steady. Gohan was now holding her hand.

"I don't care how much you yell at me, I won't let you do this anymore…no more hero stunts, not under my watch!" his voice was slightly shaking, still filled with mixed emotions.

"We'll talk about this when you wake up." The half-sayan turned his back on the laying form and walked out of the room.

The cardiogram's beeps became frantic. Videl's eyes snapped open. She had maintained her calm through all of her "boyfriend's" speech, but was now ready to explode: how dare he tell her how to live her life, to sacrifice everything that gave meaning to it ? She wasn't as smart as he, or as good with people; she fought crime, it was all she could do and she did it well. Why couldn't he accept her the way she was? She balled her tiny hand into a fist and felt something inside her hand: a senzu bean. The independent young women smiled, slowly and painfully removed every needle from her arms and the glued censors from her head and chest and swallowed the senzu. She was ripping off the bandages from her forearms and her back when a stunned chief of police stopped in the door frame. His mouth was mid-opened and he stared at her without blinking.

A lame "What? I heal fast, ok?" was the only comment that escaped the young women's lips. Coming back to his senses, the older man took a step in, closed the door behind him and tossed a file on the crime fighter's knees:

"You will be glad to know that thanks to you there were no casualties, well… except for the criminals…" he added uneasily.

Changing topic, he pointed the file on her lap "Take a look into this. I would normally have waited for your full recovery but since you seem to be in good shape…" he stammered on those last words, still not believing his eyes.

"I guess we _could_ proceed." his large grey eyebrows moved implicitly as he put emphasis on the _could_.

"Of course, you must know that this _undercover_" other eyebrow move "mission is highly dangerous and would require a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice."

At that particular point in the conversation any normal person that would have been shot the very same day would certainly not have considered this mission, but Videl never was by any standards normal. She cautiously opened the file. As she went through numerous rapports and photos, the Chief began his debriefing:

"The goal of this operation is to get in contact with a man we have in custody. He goes by the name of Wolf. For all that we know, it might very well be a fake identity for, according to the government's database, he literally appeared less than a year ago…"

The veteran policeman saw that glimmer in the young woman's eyes he had known to recognize as interest in a challenge. "He injured seven of our officers during his arrest, so he definitely is a martial artist, in the end he surrendered and came willingly. We are glad he resisted his arrest or else we wouldn't have anything really solid on him…"

"What did he do in the first place? " Videl interrupted.

"Well… that's what we would like to know. You see, we know that he has taken over several influent or vastly spread criminal groups in West City and its surroundings. Most of those organisations have considerably slowed their activities, we would like to know why." The blue eyed fighter stopped scanning the file on her knees. She had lifted to her face a photo of a visibly dead young women.

The chief seemed to hesitate for a moment "You see, people orbiting around the groups now eligibly controlled by that man, people of no real significance for them, junkies, prostitutes, usually teenagers, have been disappearing. He might be relocating them elsewhere, or…either way, we might have a future crime lord or a well organized serial killer on our hands. That photo you're holding has been taken a few days ago. This is Katherine Kane, she had been on the run for the last few months, she killed three guys and injured several others in a bar fight last spring; she was a black belt. She died in a car chase with the police; twenty years old, a pity. We've kept her death a secret… We… I would like you to get in contact with the man, gain his trust and learn what his plans are. We would like you to take this young woman's identity; we would simulate your death and transfer you to the maximum security prison outside the city where our man is held prisoner." There was a silence filled with anticipation between the older man and the teenager.

"I have a few things to do first; I'll see you in your office in a few hours." On that, she got off the bed and walked straight out of the room without even looking back, leaving behind the chief of police muttering something about his never-ending surprise towards the kid's actions.

She felt thorn, seated in her jetcopter, on the rooftop of the hospital. Her heart was beating so hard she felt as if it was about to go through her mouth. She was given the opportunity to make a difference. Not arresting some stupid low life crook, no, discovering the truth behind a large scale criminal operation; something that could have an impact on hundreds, maybe thousands of lives. Her eyes we fixed on the nothingness in front of her, her lips moving silently as titans battled within her; her eyes finally focused on the control levels of her copter and her face became the pure expression of determination. Love had been defeated by freedom and pride.

The chief of police was deep in his thoughts. It was now nearly dawn; he had passed the night in his office, waiting for Videl to show up. Would he have tried to sleep, he wouldn't have been able to; something, or rather someone, was on his mind. He had not seen a man like that Wolf very often in his life. He had walked in the interrogation room completely relaxed, almost intimidating, he projected an aura of total certitude, confidence and… meaningness. It was something very hard to describe, but that feeling he felt when their gazes met was that this man knew his purpose in life and that nothing could ever stop him. He would have liked so much to be able to just get a peek into that man's head, to pierce the mystery surrounding him, but he would have to trust Videl to follow her mission. As he thought of her, she entered his office.

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**So, what do you think ? Review ...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Those chapters are re-edited... I corrected a few typos and I made the dialogs clearer. If you feel "déjà vu", skip to chapter 4.**

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Videl had never thought of a morgue as a perfect place for a make-over, but it would have to do. The Chief had discretely led her out of the police station and driven her to the morgue. There, she was met by several people, briefing her on the young woman she would become in the next few hours. Katherine Kane was the archetype of the young rebel; last child of a wealthy family of the North Capital, always felt unaccepted, she started to mingle with the wrong crowd. Her parents died in a plane crash when she was sixteen, left home not wanting to remain with her siblings, led a life of sex, drugs and rock n' roll, to which you can had fighting in clandestine "ultimate" fights…got nearly arrested after a bar brawl that turned horribly wrong… for her opponents, and lived on the run ever since.

The raven haired fighter was trying to assimilate as much information as she could, feeling a hint of pity for the dead girl. When she could recite all the important info, she was passed into the capable hands of a hair stylist, who really felt out of place in a morgue …

As the hours slowly passed, one by one the staff responsible for her "transformation" exited the room. In the end, only Videl and the Chief of Police remained. Strangely, she could tell she was feeling as calm as the older man was tense. He gestured her to follow him into the next room, there lied a corpse on an autopsy table. A large white cloth was spread on it. The Chief solemnly lifted an extremity and the young crime fighter admired the dead girl. Her eyes were closed, her expression was one of peace, ironic that in death even the restless wore such a face, her skin was of the purest white, it probably used to be fair, it contrasted with the soft cherry pink of her short hair. The veteran policeman handed a mirror to Videl; in it, she saw her image and was startled by it. She looked in many aspects like the young woman that lied still on the table besides her. She passed her hands in her newly coloured short hair and smiled.

"It is quite remarkable… I thought there would be some resemblance, but to that level…" the Chief stated. For the next few minutes, they passed over her part, again, in order to make sure everything was under control. Playing the part of a teenage fighter with distaste towards discipline wasn't going to be hard to play. The older man left the room, leaving Videl alone to change; as she dropped her old clothes on the ground, she felt it was her very skin, her old self, she was leaving behind.

When she exited the room, her feet held by shackles, wearing her prisoner's orange overall, her face stern and eyes glaring defiantly at her friend of some years, it was not Videl Satan that was walking at a slow and heavy pace towards the guard's van, but a convicted criminal; Katherine Kane.

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The large, dark building looming from the mountain peak was getting closer in the small window of the guard's van. It seemed strange to see such an imposing structure erected in a desolated land like this; perched in the middle of the cold Western Mountains. In the hardest maximum security prison of the mainland the bricks were old, but the bars solid and people tended to die young there. Many agreed, between hell and this facility, they would gladly choose hell.

The Chief had warned the courageous young woman that her arrival at the prison would not go unnoticed. Wolf had been the subject of fear and growing concern amongst the guards, many were afraid that his ever growing influence on the inmates would tempt him to lead violent actions against the prison's staff. Since time was clearly not on their side, infiltrating the inmates' ranks and slowly gaining Wolf's trust was not possible. Catching his attention using a bold move he would not predict was the gamble the Chief of police had made.

Videl walked slowly down the corridor towards her cell, around her, inmates were shouting many obscene comments, hitting the bars of their cells with whatever object they could find to make as much noise as possible. She entered her cell, the guards had been warned that this particular prisoner was very dangerous, too dangerous for women's prisons, and they kept their distances as she turned around. She gestured towards her ankles and one of the guards freed her feet. It is at that moment, in the continuous noise, that a man marched down the corridor. His blue suit was matching those of his fellow guards but everything else in his aspect felt different. His stature was most imposing, his dark eyes glimmering deep in his eye pits, his greasy grey hair was cut short but nevertheless seemed messy. But most of all, what felt wrong was the man's smile.

It contorted into a wide disturbing grin as he barked : "Sit!"

The pink haired fighter cocked her head provokingly on the side as she answered: "Make me."

The chief of the guards' smile stretched to inhuman proportions. He hissed: "I intend to do just that…"

Catching on the innuendo, Videl slowly walked towards the large man, every guard behind him looking at the event unfolding before them, half of them feeling the same instincts as their superior kicking in, the other half uncomfortable but not daring to express their thoughts. Videl stopped moving. The space between her and the guard's leader wasn't more then an arm's length. They stared at each other for a second that seemed an eternity and the man flew out of her cell, she reached for the door bars and closed her cell's door in a loud clang . The young women's hands had moved much faster than the men could have predicted, she had pushed their superior straight out of her cell. She let a soft laugh escape her throat as she threw herself on her bed. Around them, the moment of surprise had passed and shouts of excitement could be heard.

Covering all that noise, the large man regaining his fearsome composure yelled:

"This is my prison and I will make it your personal hell, Kane!"

Around them the inmates started to chant: "KANE! KANE! KANE! KANE!"

And Videl smiled, she had wanted a dramatic entrance, she had gotten one. As the prisoners slowly returned to their beds and the prison quietened, she drifted into sleep, alone, the only women in a world of men.

The first lights of dawn pulled her from her sleep, already noises were starting to echo in the prison; it was D-day. First contact with the man she was there for: Wolf. She entered the large cafeteria; inmates were lined and waited for food to be dropped in their trays. Videl grabbed one, scanning the crowded hall for her target. A greyish mixture was poured into her bowl, she didn't know what it was, and didn't want to know, that particular strategy had work so far with the food of Orange High, so it was…her line of thought was interrupted as her tray was snatched from her hands and fell on the ground.

"Your clumsiness is no excuse, you will have to clean your mess…" an already dirty cloth was thrown in her face. Without even looking she had recognized the harsh voice of the chief of the guards and slowly kneeled to clean _her_ mess, while chuckling escaped for the men's throats around her. She saw at the last second the foot aimed at her side and caught it. Her gaze met the chief of the guard's; the jolts of laughter coming from the guards watching the scene stopped. At that particular moment, the large man made a mistake; he shook his foot free and kicked again. Her response to the move was faster than he could have thought possible, she dodged the kick, grabbed his leg and using his momentum threw him across the hall; he landed ungracefully on a table in the middle of an amused group of convicts. She could not appreciate her triumph long for she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back as she stumbled forward. The guard that had hit her with his bludgeon was motioning towards her, she engaged combat with him and soon, two, five, twenty guardians were coming to his aid fighting the little pink haired fury. For each bludgeon hit she received, she delivered several more kicks and punches. She fought in a sea of blue uniforms, hitting blindly, performing long rehearsed katas.

The doors of the cafeteria were flung wide open as the rest of the guards, wearing plates and carrying translucent plastic shields separated and started to control the excited crowd, like shepherd dogs for sheep.

Videl took one mighty hit to the head and it was as if the horns of Jericho were blowing in hers ears, she fell to the ground and still the guards kept hitting. The young fighter had a feeling they would not stop until they had kicked, punched, stomped upon every inch of her body and yet, the only thing she could do was to try to protect her vital organs, curled into a ball on the ground. Suddenly in the chaos the cafeteria had become a low roar resonated: "Enough!"

The wounded girl painfully lifted an eyelid. A tall man was holding a guard's arm and both were staring at each other. "She's had enough; she can't even fight back anymore."

The man's voice was of a dark, rich, _satisfying_ tone and though it was kept low it had a commanding ring to it. The guard seemed almost hypnotized by the man's intense gaze for a second, before freeing his arm and turning towards the guards. Orders less than polite were issued: medical care, then solitary confinement. In her misty state of conscience, Videl didn't understand all of the guard's words; her attention was fixed on the man's features. She knew them well. She had finally met her target. She passed out, but just before, for a splint second, she could have sworn Wolf's eyes flashed red.

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**Cliffhanger !!! I'm so evil ! Review, please !**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thx everyone for your reviews, they are really appreciated ! Now, ON TO THE STORY !!!**

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The stench of urine, obscurity and total silence: that was her new reality as she woke up on the hard floor of her confinement cell. Her swollen eyes slowly opened; never had she seen such complete darkness. Her hand reached for her throbbing forehead and met clean bandages on her wound.

"At least, I'm not going to bleed to death." She murmured to herself.

She painfully dragged herself to a wall, lifted her upper body to rest her back on the cold and moist stones. She inhaled slowly, her rib cage hurt; she doubted bones were broken, but it still hurt pretty badly. She sat there, focusing on her breathing, cutting the pain out from her world of perception. She gathered her strength and got up, only for her head to hit the ceiling. Her muzzled scream resonated in the small cell, which she soon discovered to be limited to just enough space for her to lie down, completely stretched, on the hard floor.

The following days were calculated by the number of meals that were passed through a small drawer build-in the door. As an only and somewhat "special" child, she had known to enjoy solitude. It had always been part of her life; better make a choice out of it. But in this claustrophobic environment, silence was filled with noises, echoes of memories she had carefully burrowed deep within herself. The voice of Gohan kept saying those things only he could tell; words of friendship, trust, kindness and comfort. She would hear her dad's voice booming in her head, repeating those lies, those containing orders that had always infuriated and humiliated her. And Gohan's voice would come back; reprimanding her as if she was only a child… leaving her confused about her feelings and previous decisions. Then her thoughts would shift towards her mission, and the eyes of that man. Those eyes that turned red for a second.

She developed ways to keep her mind free of the thoughts that would have driven her insane in her atrociously confined room. She found some sort of consolation, a sense of normality, in pushing her body as hard as she could, using her own weight to train on the hard ground of her cell. She slept only when she was at a point of utter exhaustion, she stopped performing her training routine only when her body could not take it anymore. As she sculpted her body, she steeped her soul in steel, hardening both to face in unison the task ahead.

When her twenty-first meal was served to her, she made a pleasant and a far less pleasant finding. First, her meals were now more than the proverbial dry bread and water; they were in fact better than those that would usually have been served at a prison's cafeteria and were in a fairly good size as well. Second, if her eyes were blinded by that fraction of daylight entering through the slit of the food drawer, they would not take easily coming out of this hole.

She stretched her arms in front of her and focused her energy in her palms. To her surprise, they were already faintly glowing. Pushing a bit more, she saw, in the complete darkness of her cell, the subtle ballet of the energy streams slowly dancing in the air and forming a perfect ki ball. Maintaining her attention on the ball, she poured some more energy into it; blinding light illuminated the small room and moving her arms to protect her face from it, the ball went hurling towards her.

The smell of burnt flesh and fabric filled the cell. Videl moaned, she was in pain and that atrocious smell was making it hard to breathe. Her sleeves were burnt, her forearms slightly injured and her back felt sore from hitting the wall behind her, but she was alive and quite proud of herself. Would she have directed that blast towards the door, she was certain it would have knocked the thick steel door off its hinges. She certainly wanted to catch the inmates' attention, but this move would definitely have attracted too much attention.

Around the fiftieth meal, she lost count of the days she had been in solitary confinement.

She was deep in effort to contain her small ki ball, buds of sweat pearled on her forehead. As she drained herself of her energy, she applied pressure to contain the orb. Small lightning bolts crackled spasmodically around the fast revolving sphere. She was flirting with danger as she poured a bit more energy into the blast. Losing control over it now could mean her end. Noises coming from outside the cell almost broke her concentration. Unlocking bolts, metal turning against metal, the door grating on its fringes; the sight that awaited the guards left them open mouthed in surprise.

Sitting on the ground, her legs crossed under her, her naked arms extended, her hands tightly squeezed together and still smoking, her eyes boring into their skulls and a mocking smile plastered on her lips, Katherine Kane was waiting for them.

"You can come out…" the guard's voice was uneasy and he unconsciously stepped back as Videl exited her cell, stretching fully for the first time in many days.

As she was escorted in the long corridors, she saw the guard's hands holding a bit too tightly their bludgeons; she could feel their fear and she liked it. She felt free, powerful, set towards a precise goal and each uncomfortable glance exchanged by the guards accentuated that feeling. Their march finally came to an end. A bar of soap and a small razor were given to the young fighter, she wondered where they had found a pink razor in a man's prison and decided she did not want to know, and entered the large bathroom. Guards were standing behind her, but she knew they would not dare to approach her. She undressed quickly and tossed the rags her clothing had become in a corner and, swaying her hips provokingly, moved under the shower. The hot water rolling down her skin was enough to send a nearly orgasmic wave of pleasure through her whole body. A soft moan escaped her lips as her hands wandered slowly on her skin, loosening her toned muscles. She heard one of the guards choke behind her and she smiled, enjoying the effect she was having on the man's …throat. She vigorously washed, then shaved her unwanted body hair. She washed her unruly pink short hair and put on the clean clothes that were waiting for her on a chair. Katherine Kane was about to make her second apparition in front of the other inmates.

The undercover agent was led into a large room. Men were talking amongst each other, some were lifting weights, some watching a television anchored into the wall and guards, spread at each corner of the room, surveyed the scene. She scanned the moving crowd; intense blue eyes were fixed on her. Wolf's hand gestured her to sit besides him.

"How did you like your stay?" he asked, good humour filtering in his voice.

"I've seen worse"

"Did you appreciate the food and the razor?" he asked, a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

It took Videl a second to understand the full meaning of the question, delay the imposing man in front of her seemed to find most charming. "I am most grateful…"

"Don't mention it" he said offhandedly; he had made it clear that he was a man of influence in this environment and yet he had spared the young woman's dignity and pride.

"I was quite impressed with your little display of fighting some time ago…" his deep voice was kept low, serene, sincere "I want to know more about you".

And so their conversation began. They talked in that crowded room as if no one else could listen, painted their lives to each other, both leaving areas of shadow unexplored and not pushing to know more than what the other told them. Strange that in one single conversation, Videl had learned more about that man than all the info the police could gather.

He had nourished in his teenage years projects and ambitions as large as the village he had been raised in was small. He had joined the military as soon as he had a chance, left his mother and father, to try to "change some things" as he put it. Finally, it had been that will of change that had driven him out of the army and, ultimately, into this place. He told her how, acting on his instinct, he had resisted his arrest, something he didn't regret, for as he said:

"I am who I am because of my past; therefore, on what grounds could I regret what is done: the man that is in peace with himself is in peace with his past."

As the dyed haired fighter became more involved into the conversation, she felt more and more willing to talk and, slowly, as she spoke of her fictive loneliness and life of violence, her speech began to hit closer to home, to become more personal. As Katherine Kane shared her doubts and fears with this perfect stranger, Videl Satan was talking through her mouth.

The whole time they spoke, his deep dark eyes never left hers and the pink haired inmate wondered when was the last time that someone had really listened to her soul, shown her sincere, genuine interest; an interest in her, not in whose daughter she was…her line of thought was interrupted by a loud turmoil amongst the inmates. Eyes were glued on the television screen on the wall, there, a special coverage was on. Live, a reporter was commenting on what had been, apparently, the big news over the last few weeks: Videl Satan was dead.

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**Again Cliffhanger ! Did you like the shower scene ? Should I include a lemon later on (I'm still not sure if I'll skip it or really write all that stuff that would explain the first chapters' first sentences!) REVIEW !**


	4. Chapter 4

The young woman's mouth was agape. There, on the tv screen stood her dad, proud, tall yet his eyes filled with immense sadness. For a moment she felt guilty for what she was putting him trough, then the camera zoomed out to show the rest of the mourning people surrounding her father. Chichi, her almost mother-in-law as she insisted to be called, her husband, the legendary martial artist Son Goku, their youngest son, Goten, their friends she had met on a few social gatherings, they all thought she was dead, she had made sure of that… only one person was missing: Gohan.

Pangs of guilt, hurt and resentment squeezed her heart. He hadn't even bother to come to her funerals.

Wolf's eyes were not fixed on the screen, but rather on her face. Feeling his gaze on her, she turned her head and her teary eyes met his… cold, deep, scrutinizing. Slowly his features turned back to the ones of the confident of the past hour as a small smile stretched his lips.

"It's a pity the girl is dead… you feel she was doing the right thing." It was not a question; it was a statement.

She was glad that he misunderstood her troubled state and yet, was quite unsettled by his comment. Was it an understatement that he felt the same?

"She was only trying to help people, she didn't deserve to die" she held her breath, waiting for his reply.

"Very few people deserve it" he chuckled "and those that deserve it usually are not the ones to die first!" he exclaimed with a sour smile. Though he was looking in her direction, he was not looking at her anymore; ghosts of his past were floating in his eyes and for a moment he stayed absorbed in his thoughts as he said:

"The world is not a safe place to be in. If we had the power to change it, would we do it? Sometimes I wonder. Would we have the courage, the strength, to leave something so cruel, so rotten, so… desecrated but familiar behind and step into the unknown? Would we have the courage to do the right thing and maybe die, like that girl cop?" immense weariness was filling his voice, his dark eyes were cloudy and his whole body seemed to be crushed by an invisible weight.

Videl was not sure what to answer to _that_, hell, she did not even know if the question was directed to her!

"I think I'd do the right thing. I think" was all she could say. Wolf did not reply right away. After a moment, his body seemed to relax a bit and his voice held confidence, affection and, maybe, gratitude as he said:

"I'm glad I met you Kane, you're… special."

* * *

They had parted a few minutes ago. Her mind was boiling with all of what they had talked about. She had never really stopped to think about the very concepts of right and wrong; criminals were bad, she was good. End of the story. It turned out that, though she was sure that Wolf had some sort of hidden agenda, he had "projects" as he put it, he looked sincere when he talked about trying to make the world a better place, sincere when he complimented her, sincere in the way he just listened to her. Therefore, was he really in the wrong, or was it just that he did not "fit" in the system? But to make a judgment, she would have to _actually know_ real facts about what he intended to do, things that he had cleverly failed to mention. The truth to be told, she had gotten closer to the man, in one long talk, that she had ever been to anyone before, except for Gohan and yet did not know anything tangible. She felt as if she knew the soul, not the man. She pushed that thought out of her mind and walked faster towards the line-up.

Scared looks were exchanged silently as she waited for the phone booth and strangely, the inmates waiting all spontaneously decided that the other line-ups were more appealing, leaving her free to make her daily phone-call. Getting involved in a brawl on your first day in prison actually had its up-sides.

She had to pass through several receptionists, secretaries and clerks of all kinds despite her authorization codes and after a few minutes, she finally had the chief of police on the line. His voice was strained and filled with worry.

"Videl! Are you all right? Why didn't you call sooner?"

"Long story… I'm in contact with the target. I think he trusts me." Already she was hearing the automated voice telling her that her time was up. "I'll contact you when I have more info."

Hanging up, the young fighter scanned around her, no one had heard her hushed conversation with the chief. Good.

They did not talk again that day, though several times, she had seen Wolf look at her from a distance. In the yard, when she was meditating, she had felt his eyes burning her through her closed eyelids. Each times their eyes met, she felt as if he was pondering over something.

Eventually, she was led to her cell for the night. As she laid motionless on her bed, conflicting thoughts were battling in her mind. She had a feeling of danger around that man, as well as an ease she rarely felt. It was like she could really be herself, except that she was not; she was playing the role of a convicted inmate. Strange thing that living this lie, she felt more herself than in real life! Eventually, her thoughts died as she drifted into sleep.

A muffled sound woke the pink haired girl. In the prison's dim light, she saw her door open and a passed-out guard fall on the floor.

"Put this on" was all she was told. The voice belonged to Wolf. She did not have to think twice. She quickly removed her orange overall and put the black one he had given to her. As she exited her cell, she saw shadows running silently in the corridors. Wolf was running ahead of her, certain she would follow. On their way, they jumped over the bodies of several knocked-out guards. They came to a halt against a wall, in the courtyard, waiting. For the first time, Videl could clearly count five other people wearing similar black outfits. Though they were carrying ropes and all sorts of equipment, they did not seem to carry weapons.

"Go!" was hushed by one of the cloaked figures and they started to run, again. Swiftly they passed the yard and jumped into a hole deep in the ground. At the bottom, a gruff voice said:

"You're in, now give me my money" money was given, and climbing out of the unlocked pit with a ladder, a moon beam illuminated for a brief moment the cruel features of the Chief of the guards.

"Good luck" was all he said from the top of the pit, as he grinned viciously under the bandages still adorning his face.

Portable lights were turned on as the small group started their escape through the tunnel. Their feet were splashing in dirty water and Videl understood that she was walking in the canalizations used to drain the rain-water from the prison complex. She followed silently the others in this maze of turns, their heavy breathing echoing on the stone walls. As distant shouts and dog barks were heard, Wolf turned and said with a hint of amusement in his voice:

"At last, I thought they'd never realize we're gone!" with that said, they picked up their pace, running as fast as they could through the labyrinth of water conduits. The young fugitive could hear the guards' voices getting nearer and, at the end of a corridor in a long straight line, gun shots were fired in their direction. A sharp high-pitched scream emanated from one of the "rescuing team" members as he stumbled, only to be helped by another hooded figure. A few quick turns later, they came into a larger canal. Running as fast as they could they reached its end. Heavy metal bars were blocking the way out.

"That gate was opened when we came in!" panic was clear in one of the hooded figure's voice.

"When you bribe someone to betray his employer, what makes you think he won't deceive you as well?" every bit of amusement was now gone from Wolf's voice, though still gentle, he was scolding the man in front of him. The man looked down, in shame, and Wolf ordered the team to move away. Placing his hands on the bars, he pushed. The solid iron gate was not moving. Closing his eyes, he slowly repositioned his body and using his weight, he poured into every energy reserve he had and screamed as his shaking arms were slightly spacing the bars. Moonlight was lighting the scene, giving it an unreal appearance, and even Videl was impressed by the man's display of strength. With one last scream, Wolf's eyes snapped open before he released the bars. The pink haired girl now was sure of what she saw, before returning to normal, his eyes had been of a bright shade of red.

Sounds behind them shook the team from their trance. Lights were reflecting of the walls; the guards were close. The space between the bars was now hardly large enough for a man to push himself through it. One by one they started to exit the tunnel, helping their wounded friend. Wolf and Videl exchanged looks. In one heart-beat, the crime-fighter took her decision. If she was to succeed in her mission, they had to escape and she had to follow them.

"Go. I'll buy you some time." Videl turned her back on Wolf, who, following his men, came out of the tunnel.

She started running towards the guards. Focusing her energy, her hands began to glow. Ricocheting off a wall, she leaped into the air. Bullets were flying past her and she answered by throwing ki blasts. Targeting the walls, the tunnel soon became an inferno of fire, smoke and falling bricks and rocks. The guards were forced to retreat or they would be buried alive.

The tunnel led to a small brook in the woods and the team stopped their frantic run there, turning towards the exit. One of them collapsed. They didn't move. They waited, hearing the noises of several explosions and gun shots. Now in the open, if the guards were to catch them, they would be easy targets. Through the smoke, a lone figure appeared, her clothes torn, with a few cuts and bruises, but alive and well. She walked towards them, a smug smile on her lips, her pink hair flashing in the moonlight .One of Wolf's man could not refrain and whispered in awe:

"She's the devil!" to which Wolf's only reply was "No, she's our angel."

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**Mouahahaha... I like that line ! ;) Review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Special thanks to Miss-apple-dbz for her kick in butt... I updated because of you. I need one once in a while !**

* * *

They had made their way in haste through the woods, carrying their unconscious comrade, and were now arriving at the edge of it. A large white van was waiting for them. The back door opened and they quickly took place inside. Despite being squeezed in this claustrophobic environment, they made enough room on the van's floor to lay their wounded friend. The fabric of his pants was wet and darkened by the large amount of blood that was lost during their frantic escape.

Wolf's strong hands ripped the fabric revealing the wound. All of the people packed inside the van were shocked, though Wolf tried his best to stay calm and in control of the situation. The wound was large, a clean hole was visible in the back of the leg, on the bullet's entry point; on the other side, a large chunk of flesh was missing, leaving a gap of pulsating blood as the torn edges could not close up the wound. Using the ripped fabric, Wolfs made a tourniquet and removed the hood from the fallen's face. Wolf's hand revealed long locks of red hair falling with grace on the van's floor. The hood still in his hand, frozen in his movement, Wolf could not take his eyes of her. The girl, who did not look older than seventeen, was immobile; her chest slowly and almost indistinctively raising, showing she was still alive. Her skin was fair, her traits delicate and freckles subtly adorned her cheeks. She was beautiful… but, so young.

"Why did you bring her?" his voice was no more than a choked whisper.

"She volunteered, sir, and she's one of our best!" argued the leader of the small group.

For the first time in the last minutes, Wolf's gaze left the unconscious girl and slowly settled on the man on his right. Though his voice was calm, his eyes spoke of a deep desire to cut the man's throat with his teeth…

"She better make it." As the man gulped, he switched back his attention on the girl lying next to him.

* * *

The next hour was nerve-breaking; no word was exchanged in the small space of the van. Videl could not see where they were going and certainly did not think that asking was a good idea. Suddenly, the van stopped and the doors were slammed open, His hands bloody from trying to contain the blood loss, Wolf jumped out of the car and stormed forward. The young pink-haired fighter could not do much else than to follow.

"I want a full report on the situation, now!" he yelled. A young man ran to him:

"We have followed your orders, sir, and have recruited according to your instructions, though I must say that we encountered some resistance from…" he never got to finish his sentence as he was grabbed by the collar by Wolf.

"What's the status of the Matrix?" he asked quickly. His younger counterpart's eyes drifted away.

"I'm sorry, sir, we have had several incidents since you… left… and we have not been able to stabilize it yet, we have been under a formula shortage recently, but with your help, we might…" again he was cut in the middle of a sentence.

"Is there any formula left?"

Still standing by the van, Videl could only stare at the tense exchange between the two men. The young one, wearing a lose-fitting white blouse, was adjusting his glasses, trying to explain something very technical about not having been able to do some sort of "conversion", she was twisting this skinny and frail looking guy's words in her head, trying to make some sense of it, when Wolf ordered :

"Take the wounded to the infirmary, I'll be there shortly" and he stormed off. Someone bumped into Videl and she was asked to help move the girl fighting for her life.

Videl stared at the monitor screen in front of her. Silence filled the room: she was dead, her heart had just stopped. She had not been able to save a life for the second time.

The door of the infirmary was slammed opened to reveal Wolf, out of breath, rushing to the girl's bedside. In a matter of milliseconds he understood. Incoherent chunks of words were ushered through his lips as he checked again her vital signs and attempted reanimation procedures. Long seconds went by, no one else daring to move but the frantic man trying to save the girl that had come to rescue him.

"It's too late, sir." murmured the youth with the glasses.

"No it's not!" yelled Wolf "Give me a dose of adrenaline!"

As the youth turned to search for the syringe, Wolf put his hand in his pocket to reveal a small vial of what looked like a squishy red solution. Worried looks were exchanged between the medical staff assembled around the dead girl. As soon as the adrenaline syringe was in his hand, it moved swiftly into the air and punctured through the girl's ribcage and into her heart. With the syringe still implanted in her chest, Wolf quickly smashed the red vial deep into her leg wound, breaking it and tearing even more flesh.

Removing the syringe, he slammed his fist on the girl's chest. Two long seconds went by. He took another swing at the body… then a small noise was heard, like wind passing between the rocks of a cliff, growing into a scream as the girl gapped for air, her whole body convulsed in pain, her eyes and fists shut tight.

"Hold her!" Wolf yelled over the noise. The room obeyed, except for Videl, entranced by the girl's wound. The once large hole in her leg was now boiling with blood and tendril-like pieces of flesh were entwining themselves as the vial's chards of glass were expulsed from the wound.

The medical staff was struggling to keep the girl from moving. Tears of blood were flowing from her shut eyelids. Her back completely arched, her last scream of pain dying in her throat as she stopped in this gothic pose of silent pain, mouth agape, her eyes shot open. Two pupilless red globes bore into Videl's eyes, as if they were seeing through her, something very far away. The young fighter could not refrain but to feel sickened by that unnatural gaze.

Then, the girl's body went numb and fell back on the bed. Silence once again filled the room.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Wolf examined the monitor beside the bed; the pulse was fast, but stable. Her facial features had relaxed, the wound had closed, she didn't look to be in pain. Exhausted, she had fallen asleep.

"Make sure to show Kane around… I'll be in my quarters." With that he left the room.

The young doctor with the glasses slammed his fist into the wall :

"I can't believe he just gave her the pure formula!" he yelled. "Wolf!" and he stormed after the taller man.

"Don't mind him" a woman told Videl "They respect each other… they just don't agree too often."

Smiling, she motioned towards the door "Come, I'll show you the place."

As they slowly walked through corridors and hallways, Videl inspected the lady's features. She was taller than most women; her frame was definitely that of a fighter, and her posture inspired authority. Her eyes and hair were pitch black and contrasted nicely with her fair skin. Her hair was tied in a tight bun at the base of her skull. Her tight fitting black clothing revealed long muscles, but very little skin was left uncovered. As they encountered many young people through the halls, polite nods of respect were exchanged.

"This is the main hall. This is where we eat and hold the gatherings." She stated as they entered a room far bigger than the others. They took a door at their left; already Videl was lost in this maze of blank corridors and rooms.

"Those are the barracks… men and women are separated." At that comment, a few young teens with their backs lying on the wall chuckled "For obvious reasons!" she added directing a death glare at the guys, effectively shutting them up in the process.

Boys will always be boys, Videl noted mentally, pushing aside the image of a smiling Gohan.

"And this is the most important room, for me of course" humor was apparent in her voice "the dojo." As she opened the door, several men and women, wearing similar outfits to those of the lady stopped in mid fight, or performing katas. All turned around and bowed.

"Now that you've been showed around, let me introduce myself; my name is Louve, and I am the master of this dojo."

Videl was presented to the group as a person of great importance, brought back by their leader, whose "rescue" had been successful, though almost at the cost of one of their friends. Having Wolf back amongst them seemed to bring them some sort of weird peace and feeling of security, though tears were shed when describing the red-haired girl's injuries, again, the story of how she was saved by Wolf's hands seemed to bring over-exaggerated joy within the group. Then the announcements were finished, and as suddenly as they had stopped, the group resumed their activities.

To say Videl was startled by their actions was an understatement.

* * *

Over the next few days, her routine was quite simple: sleep, eat, do some various chores, train until exhaustion, sleep again. All the while trying to gather whatever information she could. The little she managed to learn, trying not to act suspicious, was fascinating: all the members of the "community", as they called, it had been in some very bad position when Wolf took them in… deep into depression, homeless, drug addict, forced into prostitution, runaways; it looked like Noah's Ark for the hopeless.

All of them had been getting their lives back on track, sheltered from the outside world, training to clear their minds and to "find their purpose", with side effect of creating a community where all members, from pre-teens to elders were practically all black-belts. In fact, only a select few who had been there for longer than the others were actually _allowed_ to leave the compound.

About every clan member's idea of Wolf ranged from leader of epic stature to sheer prophetic figure. In fact, his _teachings_ were law amongst the group and the funniest thing was that they all seemed happy. Their lives were simple, rewarding, safe and they all had a small smile when she pushed further her questioning, always saying something like "she was chosen for a reason" or that "all would be explained in due time"… The truth to be said, she was not making much progress in her investigation; at least she new where all those poor people missing had gone, but she still had no clue about what they were really doing here and what Wolf's intentions were !

The first week went by without her seeing Wolf again. Until a specific incident.

* * *

**So this is it... until next time ! I have a few chapters ready for uploading, well... they do need to be corrected, but that shouldn't take months ! REVIEW !**


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